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Jan. 7, 2009: It was her time

To The Editor:
Kathy Wilber, our mayor for the last five years, officially resigned for personal reasons as of the November village board meeting. Malcolm Becker, current deputy mayor, has agreed to fill the position of mayor until a new mayor is elected in the spring.
During Kathy’s tenure, she has accomplished important long-term infrastructure im-provements. After many years of negotiations, she successfully completed the waste water treatment contracts, oversaw the building of the treatment plant, sewers and secured lateral installation credits for village homeowners.
Kathy’s heart and love has always been to put Fleischmanns first. The positive long-term effects are already evident: we already have four new businesses since the installation of sewers. La Cabana has reopened, a new pizzeria, laundromat and The Tinder Box have opened in town. In addition to protecting and improving our water infrastructure, several village streets have been resurfaced. Kathy brought on a new code enforcer and fought calls for village dissolution. She returned credibility back to our village and board of governing trustees.
On a more personal level, Kathy and her late husband, Jessie, were volunteer fire-fighters and belonged to the Fleischmanns Volunteer Fire Company. Kathy served as an EMT and performed numerous critical rescues. When power would go out, she would personally reach out and check in on folks that she knew were oxygen dependent to see if they were okay. She went the extra yard and loved doing so. Kathy is the ultimate volunteer. Fleischmanns has come a long way since she stepped up to the plate and we are grateful.
It was her time and she made the best of it. We thank her and wish her well in her new endeavors and we thank Malcolm Becker for picking up the leadership torch and carrying us forward.